Thru the Bible

Steve: On through the Bible, we've been hearing about the battle of the gods. I bet you've been on the edge of your seat because the story is intense, isn't it? And Dr. J. Vernon McGee has some profound application for our lives today.

I'm Steve Schwetz, and as we open to Exodus chapter 10, we're going to hear about Pharaoh's last appeal to Moses. And it's worth remembering that the same power that confronted Pharaoh's hardened heart is still changing hearts all over the world today. And that's why we share listener's letters.

Not just to celebrate the ministry, that is a part of it, but to celebrate more importantly what God's word is accomplishing. Here's Dr. McGee explaining why these stories matter to us so much.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I read letters from the foreign field and from people who accept Christ, to let you know what the word of God is doing today. And others write and tell us what a thrill it is to know that the word of God, for instance, is going into India and China today, and they rejoice in what God is doing.

And I read them letters, if you can believe my word, and well believe it, I read it, to actually, to let people know what the word of God is doing today. And therefore, I read them that they might know, and if they're so led and guided, that they might want to have part in a ministry that is not just promotion, but is getting a job done.

And the teaching of the word of God today is reaching people everywhere, and I think it's honoring to the word of God. I think it's honoring to the name of the Lord, and that's the reason we read letters. So, I trust you'll believe me when I say to you that in answer to your question, why do you read letters?

I read letters to let people know what the word of God is doing today, and that we're not spinning our wheels. We're actually reaching people with the word of God. Their lives are being changed by the word of God, not by me because when these people hear a foreign broadcast, they do not hear my voice at all.

I'm not even around. It's been translated, my messages into other languages, and the Bible teaching is what is going out today.

Steve: Decades later, that reason hasn't changed. We still share these stories for the very same reason. Listen to this testimony from Wayu, who listens and travels on the Bible bus in Indonesia.

Guest (Male): I'm a father of two, a husband and a grandfather. I was born in 1966 and previously worked for the Ministry of Education and Culture. My journey to faith began through an unexpected encounter with a man at a fish stall while visiting a relative. I invited the fish seller to attend Friday prayers with me.

Guest (Male): He replied, "I used to be like you, but now I believe in the Lord Jesus." His words struck me. I wanted to know, why do Christians worship Jesus? What proof is there that the Bible is truly God's word? The fish seller couldn't answer my questions, but he directed me to a church in Bekasi.

There, as I asked those same questions and later met a Christian leader who patiently explained about Jesus and the truth of God's word, through that process, I came to believe in Jesus Christ and was baptized. When others learned of my conversion, I faced strong rejection and even physical mistreatment, which eventually led me to leave my job.

Today, I serve communities across West and Central Java, working among farmers, building relationships and being accepted in society. Your Bible teaching program has been an important part of my life. Through it, I continue to grow in God's word, and I was encouraged to start a small fellowship group in my home.

Now, around eight people gather with me regularly. Many of them cannot read or write, so the program has become essential for helping us learn scripture. I'm so grateful to see their faith growing. Praise the Lord.

Steve: Great story, isn't it? God is at work, and we want him to be glorified. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your word that's still calling people to yourself and building faith around the world. As we open Exodus, Lord, teach us to trust you fully and never settle for compromise, in Jesus name. Amen.

Steve: Here's Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Exodus 10 on Through the Bible.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now today, we return here to the 10th chapter of Exodus at verse 10. And we are in this contest with Pharaoh. That is, it's actually the battle of the gods. And God is directing these plagues and judgments toward the idolatry, which was zoolatry, in the land of Egypt.

Every one of the plagues was directed at a particular deity in that land, a particular idol. Fact of the matter is, God is beginning now to reveal his own power. He begins to demonstrate his power here, especially with the beginning of the hail.

And now we come to this next one, which is that of the locust, and I'm going to begin reading here at verse 10. Pharaoh had called in Moses and Aaron and offered them another compromise after this judgment and plague of the hail, but it was not acceptable to Moses because Pharaoh must let the children of Israel go, and there cannot be any strings attached to it.

Now will you notice as I read here at verse 10, "And he said unto them, 'Let the Lord be so with you as I will let you go, and your little ones, look to it, for evil is before you.'" The thing is that Pharaoh was very angry that they would not accept the compromise.

And notice now, verse 11, "Not so, go now, ye that are men and serve the Lord for that ye did desire," and they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. Pharaoh said, "You just wanted to go out three days in the wilderness and serve the Lord. Now I'll let you go, but leave your children here." They would not accept that compromise.

Now we have the next plague that's coming up. "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locust that they may come up upon the land of Egypt and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.'"

And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night, and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locust. Locust went up over all the land of Egypt and rested in all the coast of Egypt. Very grievous were they.

Before them there was no such locust as they, neither after them shall be such. "And they covered the face of the whole earth," that is in Egypt, "so that the land was darkened, and they did eat every herb of the land, all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left, and there remained not any green thing in the trees or in the herbs of the field through all the land of Egypt."

Now, there's several things here that are revealed in this judgment. The judgment is that of the locust, and you'll notice first of all that they were not caused to appear miraculously. And actually there does not seem to be a miracle like some of the others are described to us, but they're not any less miraculous.

The east wind brought them from somewhere else. Obviously, this east wind that had come up brought them, if you will notice, from somewhere over in Asia, and they certainly were common over in that area. They'd been brought over a wide expanse of desert, and I guess they were pretty hungry when they got into the green Nile Valley, and they absolutely stripped everything.

Now, the locust was probably the worst plague that they've had so far, because the locust is used in scripture as a picture definitely of judgment. You have a great locust plague that Joel describes. And these locust plagues of the past are a picture of the judgment that is yet to come.

And you will find that that is mentioned in the word of God as you get over to the book of Revelation. The great locust plagues that are coming upon the land. In Joel's prophecy, you have the great judgment of the locust in the past, which is a matter of history.

And then Joel moves on to say that there's coming that kind of a judgment. And locust therefore are used as instruments of judgment, and that's what you have here. So they've come over the land, and they probably have had the greatest effect upon the land than anything else that is come upon that land in that day.

Now I'm going to drop down here in verse 16. "Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste and he said, 'I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.'" Now, this is the first time Pharaoh has made any kind of admission like this at all. You see it took the plague of locust.

And you'll notice that there is method in the manner in which God is dealing with these people and that land and with Pharaoh in that day. The judgments are given in a systematic, orderly way, directed first at the different idols in the land of Egypt against zoolatry.

Now he's beginning to direct these as definite plagues that are working a tremendous hardship upon the people to convince Pharaoh. And this last one, the locust one, has certainly had its effect. He's called for Aaron and Moses to come in and he's made a confession.

He says, "Forgive my sin only this once and entreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me this death only." And he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locust, cast them into the Red Sea.

There remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go. Now this man Pharaoh, the minute that the plague is removed, why, he changes his mind and he goes back to his original position.

And God's going to force him, you know, to let the children of Israel go. So after the locust, why there are actually to be only two more plagues. And this now is the next one, which is darkness. We speak of Egyptian darkness. Why, this is directed against the highest deity, the idol in the entire worship of the people of Egypt.

And notice this now, "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Stretch out thine hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.'" And if you've ever been in a place like that, well, the only time I've actually felt darkness was down in Carlsbad Caverns years ago, when they used to turn out the lights and sing Rock of Ages.

But they had the criticism of that from some of these unbelievers, and so they don't sing Rock of Ages anymore, I'm told, but that was very effective. And I've never been in darkness like that. Well, that was the kind of darkness that was over the land of Egypt, "even darkness which may be felt."

Verse 22, "And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days, but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." And this was definitely a miraculous sort of thing.

And we find now Pharaoh's ready again for a fourth compromise. And this fourth one is the last compromise because after this, he's really going to have to stand to it and permit the children of Israel go. Verse 24, "And Pharaoh called unto Moses and said, 'Go ye, serve the Lord, only let your flocks and your herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you.'"

Now, you would think that just leaving their flocks and their herds would be a real compromise. In other words, Pharaoh has come a long ways in making concessions to Moses, and you think this one would be agreeable. Well, I find in this again a corollary or a parallel with the children of Israel, and with us today.

God called them to get out of the land of Egypt, lock, stock, and barrel. And not only were they to take their children, their children's not to be left there for the schooling and the education of Egypt. They are not to be a success in Egypt. They are to go and take their place with God's people.

And we've said that was the most subtle temptation a Christian has today. We expect to bring up our children in the world. We want them to be a success in the world today. And then we wonder why the world wins them over and we lose them. It's quite obvious to see. I heard a Christian mother tell about how her son had gone away to a godless school and how he had gone up in the world.

She didn't mention to me that he lost his faith, although he had at that time. But she told about how he was being advanced, he had graduated from the school, given a very fine position, and he's high up, by the way, today. And his name has been in public print many times.

And then she came with tears in her eyes as she told me the sad story of how she lost her boy, that he turned his back upon everything. Well, that's the way she started him out. And naturally she lost him. That's a subtle temptation. Now this one here is one that gets people today too.

"Leave your flocks and your herds." And I find that there are a great many Christians. They say, "Yes, we want to serve the Lord. We are faithful in our church, we support our pastor, and we give to the Lord's work, and we are for missionaries." But have you ever noticed the way they do business?

They do business in the land of Egypt. Their flocks and their herds are down there. And they're very much interested in those flocks and herds. Let me tell you, they'll put those flocks and herds above everything else. And if they have to make a choice to serve God or to go make a trip to Egypt for the flocks and herds, you know what direction they go?

They go with the flocks and herds. It's interesting that a great many Christians say, "Well, you know, that on Sunday I serve the Lord, but during the week I'm out in the old cold hard business world." And I'm afraid a great many so-called Christians out in the old cold hard business world today live just like the old cold hard business world, and you can't tell them from the others.

Their lives are just like the ones in the land of Egypt. And they certainly have all their investments in the world today. I'm of the opinion that the rapture of the church would break the hearts of a great many Christians. You know what it would do? It would separate a great many Christians from their investments that they have today in the world.

You'll have to go off and leave that safety deposit box, that savings account, those stocks and bonds, that real estate, all that you had given your time and your heart to, you're going off and leave it at the rapture of the church. And I believe it'll be a heartbreak for some people to do that.

Now, notice what Moses says to this compromise. And believe me, Moses makes a real distinction here. There'll be no compromise. Compromise is immoral. Morally years ago said, "Compromise is immoral." And a candidate for President of the United States, quite a few years ago, back in the, I guess in the late '50s, said that compromise is not immoral.

Well, it is, friends. Always is for a child of God. And in verse 25, listen to him now, "And Moses said, 'Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with us.'" Now, listen to this, "'There shall not a hoof be left behind.'"

Moses said, "When we go out of the land of Egypt, we are not even going to leave a hoof track back in the land." Thank God for Moses. He won't even leave a hoof track. He'll avoid every appearance of evil. And did you know that the Red Sea washed out all of those hoof tracks?

Remember the cattle went over also as well as the people. And when that Red Sea came back, it washed out all the tracks. Moses told him. He said, "We won't even leave a hoof track when we leave this land. We're leaving nothing in the land of Egypt."

How about it, Christian friend, if the Lord Jesus came at this moment and took you out of this world. And you say, "Oh, that'd be wonderful." Would it be wonderful? What are you leaving in the world that you've got your heart in today? Would it break your heart to go off and leave your real estate?

To leave your wealth, to leave what you've accumulated? Actually to leave your unsaved relatives as your sons and daughters. Moses said, "When we leave Egypt, we won't even leave a hoof track." This is terrific, by the way. Now notice, "For therefore must we take to serve the Lord our God, and we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither."

"But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go." Now, God's going to begin now to make him face up to it. "And Pharaoh said unto him, 'Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more, for in that day thou seest my face, thou shall die.'"

"And Moses said, 'Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.'" They're going to leave, by the way, and going to leave shortly. And this is God's plan and program. Now in chapter 11 here, we come now to the last chapter in this section of the contest with Pharaoh.

And actually there are 10 plagues, some would say 11 plagues. I'm of the opinion that you might put down 11, but at least a minimum of nine. And so here is what I would call the 10th one. Now in chapter 11, verse 1, "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt.

Afterwards he'll let you go hence. When he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor jewels of silver and jewels of gold.'" Now, I'd like to offer an explanation right here.

We'll have this before us again. But actually what we have in this matter of borrowing, it means they were collecting back wages. You see what had happened, they had served here in the land of Egypt as slaves, and they hadn't been paid anything. And so now they are to be paid.

And this is what they're to do. The word literally is, "Ask of his neighbor. Go and ask for your back wages." That's the thought that is here. "And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. The Egyptians now glad to pay them all to get rid of them.

Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. And Moses said, 'Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.

From the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore.

But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast, that ye may know how the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me and bow down themselves unto me, saying, 'Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee,' and after that I will go out.

And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.' And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land."

Now, in one sense the contest is over. But actually not, and it's still a battle of the gods. Now the plague of darkness, I should have said at that time that the Egyptians worship Ra Amun. You have seen these signs in Egypt of the disc. It's the sun and the rays shooting out like spokes from a wheel.

You find it over the doorways. I suppose I saw that at least 25 times when I was in the land. Still there today. It comes down from the days actually of Moses. Now that darkness was that. Now, the gods of Egypt always claim the firstborn of both man and beast.

That belonged to the gods. Now God takes theirs, that belong to them. But he's going to make a difference between the children of Israel and the Egyptians. But the difference now is not just that there'll be no death angel passing over the land of Egypt. The death angel will pass over the land of Egypt because there's no difference in God's presence.

There's no difference between Jew and Gentile, actually. And so the thing that will make the difference, there will be now the blood of a lamb put on the doorpost. And this will be the beginning of the oldest religious holiday that there is, and it's the Passover feast.

And that Passover is one of the most eloquent portraits of the Lord Jesus that you have in the Old Testament. And we're going to see that next time when we come to the 12th chapter of the book of Exodus. And I urge you to read over that 12th chapter. It's a long chapter.

Read it over several times. And next time, we'll take those 51 verses. And we'll look at this oldest and greatest of religious holidays that speaks of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless you, my beloved.

Steve: Find out more about Through the Bible by getting our app or going to TTB.org or call 1-800-65 Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz, and I'll meet you here next time.

Steve: Today's study is always available, free to stream or download, thanks to the generous and faithful investments from your fellow Bible bus travelers. Just go to TTB.org or download our app to listen again anytime. As always, we'd love to know what's God teaching you.